I have always been interested in flight; aerodynamics, it’s principles, how to overcome gravity, how to get and sustain altitude and speed against natural forces…, anything related with flight. Especially the “flying machine” itself; aircraft, also called airplane.
When young, I used to fly gas powered model airplanes (using .049 cc and .15 cc engines, burning Nitro-Methane and Methanol based fuel) which gave me an insight to understand the principles and laws of flight.
Back in 1983 I joined the United States Air Force (USAF), passed through BMTS (Basic Military Training School) in Lackland Air Force Base under the Air Trainig Command, transferred to Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois for my specialized instruction and graduated as an Aircraft Electrical Systems Specialist. My job: preventive and corrective maintenance on all of the electric circuits in airborne vehicles.
So, I figured I’d write about flight and the vehicles usually used for this purpose.
The Prehistory of Flight
Human beings have always wanted to fly. Evidence of our ancient desire to be able to fly can be found in our earliest legends of winged gods and heroes (Greek mythology: Daedalus and Icarus http://thanasis.com/icarus.htm), flying horses and magic carpets. Then there are the tales of real human beings who were carried aloft by kites or who tried to fly with wings they designed. Usually these attempts were accompanied with broken bones or… worse.
The hot air balloon
When flight finally did arrive, it came in an unexpected way. It had absolutely nothing to do with wings. The invention of the balloon created excitement throughout Europe and America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_balloon
Although the balloon would be used for science and military purposes, it could only travel where the wind blew it. The old dream of flight with wings still remained.
